Google Adds Viewable Impression CPM Bidding To AdWords

In yet another significant change to how its PPC advertising platform operates, Google has rolled out new viewable Cost Per Impression (CPM) bidding in AdWords.

The new option is accessible within the bidding and budget tab and is available to any campaign running on the Google Display Network.

This is an interesting development for PPC marketers as up until now, traditional impression bidding is charged on what is known as 'served impressions'.

This means a bid is made with no guarantee the ad will actually be visible onscreen - somewhat jarring for PPC experts when research from the likes of comScore has claimed as much as 31% of display ads are never even seen by web users. A figure in terms of ads which stood at a colossal 1.8 trillion display ads which were paid for, but never seen in 2012.

However, with this new development advertisers will now only be charged for the ad impressions which are actually viewed by users.

AdWords users will now be able to see Active View metrics in their reports alongside the usual facts and figures. This will include viewable click-through rate, viewable impressions and Active View average CPM.

With this change in place, it is now expected many in the industry will follow suit. This was something predicted by the Interative Advertising Bureau (IAB) back in June 2013 when it informed marketers the Media Rating Council (MRC) expected to see a drive for viewability in the fourth quarter of the year.